Terry Bond

Could have been any car. Gray and Davis was a well known maker of lamps and many were supplied with specific cars, but they are usually also embossed with the car name, e.g. Cadillac. I have a large collection of early accessory catalogs and there are many Gray and Davis lamps illustrated in them that could be purchased and put onto any car. They were a pretty good quality lamp so were probably an upgrade. A lot of cars also actually came without lamps supplied original equipment, and if you wanted some, you bought what you preferred. They were available from auto parts stores, country garages, hardware stores, and of course even some dealers supplied them. Polish it up and put it on the shelf to admire. They are not terribly scarce. Big issue with them is cracked reflector. Those glass mirrors are getting difficult to find and usually will need to be resilvered. Burners are also available but not getting any cheaper. Terry.

I have a friend in England who has perhaps one of the largest collections of emblems existing and I've sent him the link. We'll see if he know it. Terry

Yes-pics are important as are post-event reports! It's been years since I've been there but one of our local region members visited a couple of years ago. I had a good friend email me a couple of pics I'll try and post a bit later when I get a chance. Like a lot of other swap meets, the focus shifts towards newer and newer vehicles, however it' still one of the top events of it's kind for European cars/parts and automobilia. Lots of stuff you won't see anywhere else, but I'm told brass isn't as prevalent as it was a few years ago. Terry

Hi Bill, are you talking about the cards showing photos of cars in Austie's collection? There were piles of them at the museum and they still show up on the internet (check ebay). I assume he must have had other old cards in a collection but am not aware what became of those. Terry

Missed you at Hershey! I also have a couple of hand painted postcards - this is one of my favorites. Probably painted over another card of some kind, but a clever and quite personal way to send greetings. stuff like this isn't done these days!

Among my collection of collections I have about 7 albums filled with early automotive postcards. Started collecting years ago and my focus was (and still is) early stuff. Although I've added later gas stations, etc, they need to at least have visible pumps out front to be of interest. My "real-photo" postcard collection is only a small portion of them. I love the artsy-type cards depicting early autos, motoring scenes, or even humorous situations from the early 1900s when the car was just becoming popular. Recently did a short program for our club on collecting automotive postcards. It's something that is cheap and doesn't take up a lot of space. Plus, you get to read someone else's mail! Terry

I can envision someone with a drone marketing their services by locating stashes of collector cars. I once knew some folks I Michigan who periodically used a small plane to scour the countryside looking for old cars parked out behind the barns. I'm sure there might even be the capability to use some kind of radar to penetrate garage walls and actually see what's inside! Technology is amazing. Terry

Needs to be dumped over to the for sale section. this forum is for discussion about swap meets, not pieces for sale. thanks,

Wow Bob, it'll take a big show-case for that Hershey find. In my photos what seems to be an Overland badge is actually a salesman's lapel button. Neat little item.

Annie, we'd love to have you guys attend our Old Dominion Meet. The location is fabulous - Founders Inn. You can google it to see. It should be a great event. We usually have a number of NC cars attend. First class event with AACA style judging. Terry

Wow, you sure did some power shopping - I managed a few great finds for my collection of collections including some brass items, and nice automobilia including a Royal doulton plate. Added a few spark plugs, some Model T accessories for my old auto parts store recreation, and a wonderful early Montaut print. Here are a couple of pics.

Saw the car, but missed seeing you too. Lets catch up at Philly. Hershey is always a challenge to get around and see everything, including people! Our time in the swap meet consumes most of our days, either selling or shopping. The week fills up pretty quickly with dinners, and functions like Night at the Museum. Makes for a busy but fabulous week. Terry

The Hershey Region members deserve every bit of praise for another fantastic week in Chocolate town! It was fabulous!!! Terry

What? Ure going back again? Don't know about the rest, but my yearly calendar begins and ends on Hershey dates. This year was one amazing event, and the weather sure helped too! Terry

Dittos here Bob, think I'll just leave the truck packed and start counting the days!\Terry

Hi Bob, look forward to having you stop and visit at Hershey. Terry

GCC 5-6, end of the row across from the crab cake vendor. Great place to be, near the AACA booth and membership table. Stop by and say hi, bring old spark plugs! Susan and I like to shop too so might be out roaming around. Best time to catch us is late PM. Terry

Got the camera out this evening - here are a couple of photos showing the Ignitor from my spark plug collection. I've also included a photo showing two of the "plugs" used in these devices, and a page from a catalog in my collection from Gamages, London, dated 1906. For automotive use, it seems these were more commonly used in early European cars. I guess it would take digging into the library collection of early literature to see if any info on these exists for some of the cars referenced in the page from Gamages catalog. I was always told that mine was used in a De Detrich, circa 1904/5. David, your's of course is not like the one I have, but I do still believe it comes from a one-cylinder stationary engine. Just a guess on my part, but perhaps you can try a post on the gas-engine enthusiasts forum - http://www.smokstak.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5 You might get lots of people asking to buy it, but if it needs to go to a dedicated spark plug collector, my hand is in the air! If you are interested in collecting early spark plugs this could form the basis of a nice collection (remember, three of anything is a collection). There will be a big gathering of the members of the Spark Plug Collectors of America (SPCOA) at Hershey so if you are going to attend stick it in your pocket for our show-and-tell session. Let me know and I'll post details. Our little club of plug collectors has been around over 40 years now and there is a good bunch of about 300 dedicated members world-wide. Our quarterly publication "The Ignitor" contains a wealth of information on plugs and alone is worth the price of membership. I have also heard that some of these early "plugs" were produced by the firm Claudel-Hobson, but I have no info to confirm that. I've also added a couple of photos showing the one-cylinder Cadillac spark plug assembly. Mine is still in it's original wooden box. Anxious to learn more- and happy collecting! Look me up at GCC 5-6 later in the afternoon and bring old spark plugs! Terry

Back in the early 1900s, you were most likely to get arrested for "Driving Furiously" than actually "speeding." There was no really effective way to measure speed other than with the old stop watch technique. In my collection of automobilia I have one of the early Jones tags warning police not go "arrest of guesswork." It's a neat item that has been reproduced several times over the years as a novelty item.

Wow, I could spend hours (days!) in there looking around. That's my kinda place. Glad the thread got back on track, Here are a few pics from my sheet music collection: Terry

It is a make and break ignitor, as commonly used on stationary engines. There is some limited early automotive use and I'll try to dig out some info from some of my early literature and send a picture or two of some similar items in my spark plug collection. I am not sure about the brass yoke, it was obviously used to carry a live wire from an electrical source (battery) and it may have simply been used to keep some wires untangled. It might be of interest to someone who collects spark plus. Let me now what you had planned for it. Most certainly not Cadillac. I'll post a pic of the correct one cylinder Cadillac plug assembly. thanks, Terry

Believe I'll stick with spark plugs! Not sure I could even afford the set of wrenches it would take to work on a train! Terry

Lots of different ways to do it. We belong to a MG Club that actually publishes a members aid directory and it's proven useful a couple of times for some members I know. For tours I've been on there is usually a list of help available published in the tour book, but it's the coming and going that might need to be covered, especially if you are driving an older car. Wonder if a good way to handle it for a club as large as AACA might be to have a point of contact in each Region/Chapter? Just having someone to call and ask where to get help could be an extra safety net and at least make you feel more comfortable about venturing out in an antique car. Terry

First pic, from what I can see of the radiator shape, fenders, etc. I believe it may be a teens Maxwell. It's not a large car. I'll be going through Mt Airy soon and It'll be interesting to see if I can recognize those scenes. Wouldn't it be great if the signs and gas pumps were still there! Terry

Signs - I must collect signs too because I've got some. Started years ago when I could find them still nailed to the sides of old buildings, patching holes in the roof or being used as "fences" around garden plots to keep the varmits from eating the veggies. Although I still find an occasional addition to the collection, I've been forced to scale back because of the cost involved. Somehow I'd rather buy another car than to spend $25K on a silly sign. I guess it's all relative - probably folks out there who laugh at me for spending a hundred bucks on an old spark plug or a piece of sheet music. But my gosh hasn't the cost of collecting signs gone crazy these last few years!. Like a lot of collectors, I'm pleased with what I've got, and collecting a variety of things satisfies the need to accumulate. if I dont' find a sign, I might find a plug, or a brass light, or .... I'd sure like to see some pics of your sign collections here. Will try to get a few pics of some of my favorites posted later. Terry